all over the continent of Europe were in-
vited to take up posts in the Chapel Royal,
and Byrd contributed his own composi-
tions from a young age. At the death of
Mary and the succession of the Protestant
queen Elizabeth I, Byrd and his Catholic
sympathies were out of favor. He left the
Chapel Royal and, in 1562, was appointed
as an organist at Lincoln Cathedral. He re-
turned to the Chapel Royal, where he was
appointed to a salaried position, in 1572
and remained as a composer and organist.
Byrd and Tallis were granted a lucrative li-
cense to print music in 1578. Over the next
few years, they published several major
collections of songs, including two in En-
glish:Psalmes, Sonets and Songsin 1588
andSongs of Sundrie Naturesin 1589. Two
collections of Latin motets (polyphonic
choral compositions), under the title of
Cantiones Sacrae, were published in 1589
and 1591. These were among the first song
collections ever to be brought out in print.
Byrd also published an important collec-
tion of his keyboard pieces, entitledMy
Lady Neville’s Book. Discouraged by the
anti-Catholic laws and politics of London,
Byrd moved to a small village, Stondon
Massey, in 1593 and remained there until
his death. He published two sets ofGradu-
aliaafter the turn of the seventeenth cen-
tury, which were motets intended for per-
formance during Catholic services. Writing
and publishing this music was an act of
daring in Protestant England where Catho-
lic worship was still banned by law. After
the “Gunpowder Plot” of 1605, in which
Catholics were suspected of attempting to
destroy the English parliament, Byrd’s
Gradualiaand all of his Catholic church
music was banned. Nevertheless, Byrd
himself took part in illegal Catholic ser-
vices, most of which were held in private
homes, and continued to provide music to
be performed during the Latin Mass. He
also wrote stage songs, madrigals, and key-
board works that were collected in the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and various
shorter works for voice and strings.
SEEALSO: Elizabeth I; England; musicByrd, William